Monday, May 25, 2015

Tracking a cast of characters

An Unsuitable Attachment, Barbara Pym

I didn't enjoy this late novel of Barbara Pym's as much as the others I have read.  It has two familiar settings, the north London parish of St. Basil, where Mark Ainger is the vicar; and a small specialized library where Ianthe Broome, one of his parishioners, works.  In a switch, at least from the other Pym novels that I have read, it includes a trip to Rome with most of the main characters.  There are seven of these, starting with Mark's wife Sophia.  Really, I think I'd have to include their cat Faustina on the list as well.  She is a source of tension in the vicarage and even with some of the parishioners.

Overall, the story felt a bit diffuse to me, switching constantly between so many different characters and points of view.  The ending seemed even more ambiguous than usual.  I am not sure that the attachment of the title is really that unsuitable.  There is a five-year difference in age, on the woman's side, which doesn't seem like a big gap to me, but may have read differently when this story was originally written.  On the other hand, I felt like I didn't know the male part of the attachment all that well; we just aren't given enough information about him, to judge his suitability.

I saw from a brief forward that this book was published after Barbara Pym's death.  Her literary executor Hazel Holt edited the manuscript for publication.  Ms. Holt wrote that the edits included cuts made according to discussions  Pym had with her about the manuscript over the years.  She made other cuts in sections that "have dated in ways [Pym] would have found unacceptable..."  In looking over the other Pym novels that I still have unread, I discovered that three are also posthumous publications: A Few Green Leaves, Crampton Hodnet, and An Academic Question.  A note at the start of An Academic Question states that Ms. Holt combined two manuscript versions to produce the published work. I find the question of posthumous publication a bit troubling.  How can we be sure what the author would have wanted?  Shouldn't it be clear what is the author's work, and what her editor's?  I don't believe that Jane Austen would have published the versions of Northanger Abbey and Persuasion that her brother Henry did, though I am glad to have them.  I am looking forward with some trepidation to two posthumous novels by favorite authors, Elizabeth Peters and Terry Pratchett.

I found the multitude of characters in this book bewildering enough that I made a cast list.  Then when one, Rupert Stonebird, hosts a dinner party about half-way through, I knew I had met one of his guests before, in an earlier book - I just couldn't remember which one.  I went looking for a list or chart of the characters that appear across different books, but the only resource I found was an academic article that I can't access.  At least from the abstract I was able to identify the guest, Everard Bone, whom I first met in Excellent Women.  So I decided to start my own, non-spoilery version, because I can't resist that kind of literary puzzle, and honestly, trying to remember from book to book will drive me batty.  If the information is easily available elsewhere, please let me know in the comments or in an email (maylisa66@earthlink.net).  Please also feel free to add information on other characters not listed below - without major spoilers if possible.  I will update this list and also post it in the "Pages" section.  It's not a long list so far, because I haven't read all of her books yet.

Everard Bone: character in Excellent Women; appears in An Unsuitable Attachment

Julian Malory: character in Excellent Women; appears in A Glass of Blessings

Winifred Malory: character in Excellent Women; appears in A Glass of Blessings

Mildred Latham: central character in Excellent Women; mentioned in An Unsuitable Attachment; brief appearance in Jane and Prudence

Prudence Bates: central character in Jane and Prudence; mentioned in A Glass of Blessings

Rocky Napier: character in Excellent Women; mentioned in A Glass of Blessings

Wilf Bason: character in A Glass of Blessings; mentioned in An Unsuitable Attachment

Wilmet Forsyth: central character in A Glass of Blessings; cameo (with husband Rodney & friends) in Jane & Prudence

19 comments:

  1. I read most of these books so long ago that I had forgotten about these recurrences! I don't have anything to add to your list but I've bookmarked it for future reference...I'm long overdue for some re-reading.

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    1. I read some of the books many years ago, but now have no idea which ones. At least blogging about them is helping me keep them straight. and I still have some to read (or reread as the case may be).

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  2. Thanks for starting the list! I've also looked online for one - so surprising that there isn't already one available. I liked this book okay but it is definitely not as good as her top novels. The books that you mentioned that are all posthumously published titles are the ones I have yet to read - I think I am feeling a bit trepidatious about reading them.

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    1. I'm feeling extremely trepidatious about the book that her agent seems to have cobbled together from two manuscript versions! I think I will read the ones that Barbara Pym finished first.

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  3. That's too bad that this particular Pym wasn't as good as her others. And I agree with you, if a book is published posthumously, they should absolutely tell you what the author wrote, and what the editor added. I didn't know so many of her novels were published after she died. I own A Few Green Leaves, but I haven't read it yet. Here's hoping it's not too disappointing.

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    1. I was surprised to see how many there were myself. I think A Few Green Leaves must have been completed before she died. It doesn't have an editor's note, and it seems to have been published the same year she died. Hopefully it's a good one!

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  4. Thank you for starting this list! Pym's recurrent characters (even just a cameo appearance or mention) are always so much fun.

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    1. I love the cameos, they can make her books seem like different chapters of a bigger story. But it drives me crazy not to be able to remember where else I know a recurring character from. Hopefully other people will be adding to the list!

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  5. I loved Faustina, but felt a bit bewildered when so many of the human characters suddenly took off for Italy - I associate Pym so much with England!

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    1. I was a little worried though, because Faustina is clearly becoming an issue in their marriage! I did like the cattery at the vet's house next door too. There's just something about the word "cattery."

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  6. I think I have one or two Pym's that I haven't read yet and I am still in the honeymoon phase where I think everything she wrote is wonderful. Your question about characters made me think I had come across something like you are looking for, but I think I am just thinking of a paper that was given at the 2013 conference in Boston. I remembered it incorrectly, it is about incidental or cameo characters. Interesting, but not really what you are looking for. http://www.barbara-pym.org/Goldstein_2013.pdf

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    1. I do know that honeymoon phase, though for me it's more of a second honeymoon. I did enjoy this book, but I'd probably give it four stars rather than five like the others that I've read.

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    2. I forgot to add, thank you for the link.

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  7. Excellent Women is such an ideal book I may read this one some day.

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    1. I think Excellent Women is my favorite of Pym's books. I just like Mildred so much!

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  8. I'm glad to hear that An Unsuitable Attachment and An Academic Question were cobbled together rather than all Pym's own work, as I thought both dreadful, with just minor flashes of the old Pym. As far as I remember, A Few Green Leaves was good but quite sad. However, the good news is I really enjoyed Crampton Hodnet. It is one of my favourites, so hopefully Pym had completed that before she died. Don't avoid it because it was one of the posthumous publications!

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    1. I'm glad in return to hear that you enjoyed A Few Green Leaves and Crampton Hodnet! I have definitely moved An Academic Question down to the bottom of the reading list.

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  9. This is a useful cast of characters for reading Pym.

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  10. I hope other people will add to it, Terra!

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Thank you for taking the time to read, and to comment. I always enjoy hearing different points of view about the books I am reading, even if we disagree!